


Spinning

by kimpotato



Series: JRen Drabbles [5]
Category: NU'EST
Genre: Bad Cooking, Cooking, Food, Food Poisoning, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Gen, Mentioned Hwang Minhyun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-07
Updated: 2020-02-07
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:27:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22596283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kimpotato/pseuds/kimpotato
Summary: Mingi tries a new recipe. Jonghyun, as always, becomes the unfortunate taste tester.
Relationships: Choi Minki | Ren/Kim Jonghyun | JR
Series: JRen Drabbles [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1590616
Comments: 10
Kudos: 35





	Spinning

**Author's Note:**

> Part 5 of my Jren Drabbles collection.

Jonghyun had experienced many horrifying things in his life, but few came close to the anticipation (hesitation) of eating one of Mingi's new creations.

"Are you sure that's edible?" he asked, staring at the piping hot food on their dining table.

"Jonghyun-ah, have I ever served you anything inedible before?" Mingi chirped from the communal fridge, the one filled with _real_ food and not just beer.

". . . do you really want me to answer that?"

Jonghyun heard a small huff.

"I followed a recipe for it, okay?"

Jonghyun pursed his lips as he tried to identify the dish. "Okay? What is this called?"

Mingi beamed as he plopped down two cans of cola on the tabletop. "Parting of the Red Sea."

Jonghyun blinked. "Parting of the what now?"

Mingi huffed, gracing him with a cute pout. "Just eat it!"

Jonghyun groaned and picked up a spoon. He examined the plate carefully. The ingredients looked familiar—beef, potatoes, a _block_ of tofu, mushrooms, a variety of greens—all floating on a suspicious red broth. The dish was plated in such a way that the tofu was lined up from one end of the bowl to the other, such that it "split" the broth and other ingredients into two sections.

Jonghyun met Mingi's eyes. "Is this malatang?"

His best friend wrinkled his nose. "Well you cooked one before . . ."

 _. . . without me,_ Jonghyun could almost hear the unspoken end of the sentence. He bit his lip to stop himself from grinning. 

When he did that JxT shoot with Dispatch a while back, it was Minhyun who had pouted because Jonghyun had eaten malatang again without him. The rest of their little family had merely laughed and teased him about it. Jonghyun didn't expect Mingi to remember it, not really.

"Well? Are you going to eat it or not?" piped in Mingi's quiet voice. Jonghyun looked up, saw Mingi's round eyes filled with defiance, uncertainty, and hope. 

"Whatever makes you happy," Jonghyun flashed an indulgent smile and took his first spoonful.

***

He came to, approximately thirty seconds later, and found himself slumped on the kitchen floor, Mingi panicking beside him.

"Jonghyun-ah, Jonghyun-ah!"

The whole room was spinning, and his mouth was burning something fierce.

"Jonghyun-ah!"

"Stop shouting," Jonghyun groaned, pulling himself up in a sitting position. He leaned against the counter, shutting his eyes to stop the sudden vertigo. "And get me some milk."

He heard Mingi scamper up, and within seconds he was back, a bottle of soymilk in his hand. He helped Jonghyun drink straight from it. Jonghyun gulped gratefully before resting his head back against the counter.

". . . are you all right?"

Jonghyun wanted to laugh at how Mingi sounded so pitiful and guilty, except that any extra movement made him feel like the world was spinning out of control.

"Give me a few minutes," he managed, eyes still closed.

He felt Mingi slump beside him, fidgeting. Seconds passed, and Jonghyun heard a small sniff. He risked opening one eye.

"Are you _crying_?"

"Of course not!" Mingi lied, turning away to wipe his tears. 

Jonghyun smiled and half-blindly reached for Mingi's hand. "Hey, it's all right. You didn't have to rush me to the ER this time, right?"

Mingi chuckled in between sobs. "I just want to cook your favorite food for you."

"I know," Jonghyun consoled. "Just . . . maybe don't put too much spices and MSG next time?"

His best friend huffed. "Well how was I to know? Nobody told me what to do!"

"I thought you followed a recipe?"

" . . . I skimmed through a Naver article about it."

". . . "

" . . . "

" . . . "

"I'm sorry."

Jonghyun sighed and squeezed Mingi's hand, trying to comfort him. "Let's cook it together next time, okay?" 

The room was still spinning, but Jonghyun was already starting to feel much better. With Mingi squeezing his hand back in gratitude, how could he not? 

###

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by lyrics from "Spinning" by Jack's Mannequin.
> 
> Also, yes, too much MSG can make you temporarily black out. I've never experienced it myself, but it happened to a friend who had mistakenly thought she was adding sugar to her coffee. Yikes.
> 
> Much love to A, who I'm slowly converting to JRen, one story at a time ;-*


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